Dao Ancestor of the New Dao

"I've had a terrible time!" Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan immediately seized the Holy Venerable's hands and began pouring out his grievances. "I was locked away in the Taiyi Cave Abyss for a full six hundred thousand years, fighting extraterrestrial gods and devils at the drop of a hat. I was sick to death of it! In all those six hundred thousand years, I couldn't eat well or sleep well, until just recently when I finally found a sucker to take my place and regained my freedom. Only now that I've unleashed my natural disposition do I finally know the joys of the mortal world." The Holy Venerable felt immensely envious. He smiled and said, "Qingxuan, you can regain your freedom and unleash your natural disposition, yet I am forced to seal mine away lest I lose my sanity!" Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan asked in confusion, "Why can't you unleash your nature? Ah, of course—you cultivated to the Supreme realm, so you had to sever your stray thoughts. That path is incomplete; it was adapted from the Old Dao and was merely an expedient measure at the time. By cultivating according to the path I walked back then, isn't it inevitable that you would have to defy your nature and sever your natural disposition?" The Holy Venerable was startled and sought guidance: "Junior Brother Qingxuan, why do you say that?" Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan tore off a venison leg. Dipping it in wine as he ate, he mumbled in a muffled voice, "Let me ask you: does the New Dao cultivate a Dao fruit?" Seeing him tear the venison with bare hands, grease dripping from his fingers, the Holy Venerable couldn't help frowning. "It does not. The greatest difference between the New Dao and the Old Dao is that the New Dao does not cultivate Dao fruits; it cultivates only Dao sceneries." Seeing him so stiff and reserved, Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan shoved a large chunk of venison right into his hands and laughed. "Does the New Dao cultivate Dao flowers? Does it cultivate a Dao tree? What the fart do Dao flowers and Dao trees have to do with Dao sceneries?" With both hands coated in grease, the Holy Venerable ceased to care. Like him, he began devouring meat and guzzling wine in great mouthfuls. "You're right!" Hearing this, he was momentarily stunned, then slapped his hands together emphatically. "Indeed! If the New Dao doesn't cultivate a Dao fruit, why should it still cultivate a Dao flower and a Dao tree?" Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan clinked bowls with him, rich wine aroma wafting through the air. He laughed and said, "So the Immortal Monarch and Heavenly Monarch realms are both useless realms—forging a hammer when there are no nails to strike. The true New Dao ought to begin transitioning at the Immortal King realm, or even earlier, gathering the power of the Great Dao to cultivate Dao sceneries. That is the path leading directly to Supreme. You cultivated it all wrong." The Holy Venerable was flabbergasted. After a long daze, he finally said, "To think that throughout all my cultivation, this middle portion was wrong all along." Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan said, "Back then, our cohort mostly hailed from the major Dao sects or the Immortal Court; our foundations were inheritances of the Old Dao. When we launched our uprising, our cultivation realms were already extraordinarily high. We could not completely discard the Old Dao, so we could only break through based on the Old Dao. But the realms truly belonging to the New Dao certainly do not begin their transition from Heavenly Monarch." The Holy Venerable had never considered this issue before. Prompted by his guidance, he found himself agreeing deeply: "The root of the New Dao's problem lies in that it was not planted in the earth, but rather rooted atop the Old Dao—hence why errors arose." Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan beamed with delight and said, "Remember that big sucker I mentioned earlier? That big sucker cultivates the New Dao! It's likely he altered it right from the root—he's been cultivating the New Dao since the Qi Gathering stage!" The Holy Venerable froze. "The big sucker? You mean that big sucker is Xu Ying?" Only Xu Ying had summoned the Taiyi Cave Abyss; evidently, the sucker who replaced Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan in guarding it was none other than Xu Ying. Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan beamed, nodding repeatedly. The Holy Venerable was stunned, murmuring, "Xu Ying has been cultivating the New Dao from the very beginning? Ah, of course... He is the leek Mingzun painstakingly cultivated, and what he learned from the start was the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body. And the essence of the Six Secret Depositories is the six great Dao sceneries..." Cultivating from the six great Dao sceneries was known as Nuo—step by step forging the six great immortal domains, completing the six great Dao sceneries, and then unifying the six domains into one. In other words, by the time Xu Ying completed the unification of the six domains, he was already an Earth Immortal of the New Dao! Then Xu Ying entered the Ancestral Court. Under Mingzun's various arrangements and schemes, he gradually comprehended the other four Dao sceneries, completing all Ten Great Dao Sceneries! He unified the ten Dao domains into one, forging a bodhimanda. Only this was the complete cultivation progression of the New Dao! In truth, Xu Ying had already unintentionally traversed the New Dao from start to finish—yet even Xu Ying himself had never realized it! "If Mingzun harvests this man's leek, the karma incurred will be monumental," the Holy Venerable muttered. "Harvesting the Dao Ancestor of the New Dao as a leek... Mingzun truly has grand ambition. If this succeeds, Mingzun will undoubtedly be remembered through the ages—with no ground left to bury his corpse!" He hesitated. With a single written decree, he could forbid Mingzun from harvesting Xu Ying. Yet if Xu Ying promoted the various realms of the New Dao in the future, he would inevitably stand as an equal to him, the Grand Supreme Emperor—or might even jeopardize his supreme standing. *I should not interfere in this matter. Let nature take its course,* he thought silently. The two continued drinking and eating meat, laughing and chatting merrily. The Holy Venerable felt that never since Qingxuan's death had he been so relaxed and delighted. In all these five to six hundred thousand years, he had not laughed as many times as he had during this single meal. "Junior Brother Qingxuan, do you know that you have already passed away?" the Holy Venerable inquired. Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan smiled. "I guessed as much. If I were still alive, no one could have stayed away from the Taiyi Cave Abyss for so long. I must have been dead for a very long time." The Holy Venerable rose, straightened his robes, and dropped to his knees before him, kowtowing with his head to the ground. "In the battle for power back then, you died at my hands, Junior Brother. Over all these years, I have often regretted my decision that day." Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Did I succeed?" The Holy Venerable was taken aback and looked up. "What?" Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan asked, "Did I overthrow the old era?" The Holy Venerable nodded. "You pioneered the Supreme realm, validated the Supreme realm, and led our rebel forces to storm the Ziwei Immortal Court, forcing Emperor Haocang to abdicate and conferring upon him the honorable title of Last Lord." Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan smiled and said, "Since my wish has been fulfilled, I can die with no regrets. Rise quickly." "Die with no regrets?" The Holy Venerable fell silent for a long time, then slowly rose and said, "Dao Brother, your realm of mind is something I can never reach. It only makes me feel all the more ashamed of my own inadequacy." Good-for-Nothing Qingxuan laughed. "What do you have to feel ashamed of? I am merely the waste Qingxuan severed from himself." The Holy Venerable bowed deeply with hands clasped, touching the ground, then turned and took his leave. Arriving at the Heavenly Sea, he rose into the air. Requiring no Golden Ship of the Three Realms, he stepped upon the River of Spiritual Light with his physical body alone and crossed the waters. Daoist Yuji arrived at the Ancestral Court, only to see that after hauling the Ancestral Court over and splicing it together with the Earth Immortal Realm, the Ancestral God had departed in haste. However, joining the Ancestral Court with the Earth Immortal Realm had still caused no small amount of chaos. The Ancestral Court's Heavenly Dao belonged to the ancient era, whereas the Heavenly Dao of the myriad heavens and realms was the New Heavenly Dao. The two Heavenly Daos clashed and collided with one another, forming bizarre anomaly zones where their borders met. In these bizarre zones, the Heavenly Dao was in disarray, alternating between Dao pattern frameworks and rune frameworks, generating all manner of terrifying phenomena. Daoist Yuji arrived beside a heaven-mending divine artifact and examined the peculiar artifact closely. He saw Ancestral Court immortals rushing over to inspect and repair it. The clash between the Heavenly Daos of the Ancestral Court and the Earth Immortal Realm subjected many heaven-mending divine artifacts to tremendous pressure. When these artifacts were originally forged, no one had anticipated a collision between the old and new Heavenly Daos, causing many of them to suffer damage. Upon seeing these Ancestral Court immortals, Daoist Yuji immediately said, "Who forged these heaven-mending divine artifacts? Find this person for me! Such fine treasures, yet she forged them so sloppily!" Seeing him shrouded entirely in darkness and looking anything but benevolent, the crowd was filled with trepidation. One immortal said, "Please wait a moment, sir. We will go fetch Heavenly Artisan Zhu." Daoist Yuji waited beside the heaven-mending divine artifact and said, "Mending the artifact the way you are doing, it won't be long before it breaks again. Stand aside, I will reforge it for you." The immortals quickly cleared the way. Daoist Yuji soon reforged the heaven-mending divine artifact. The artifact, which had originally been as massive as a mountain, instantly shrank dramatically, down to only ten-odd zhang across. Seeing this, the immortals exchanged bewildered glances. One whispered, "Is this person from the same sect as Heavenly Artisan Zhu? Shrinking so much after forging!" The others nodded in succession. "His technique is even more outrageous. We didn't even see how he skimmed the materials, yet the treasure shrank all at once!" Zhu Chanchan had precisely this habit: countless people sought her out to forge treasures, but no matter how many precious materials they provided, the finished treasure was always vastly smaller than anticipated. Just then, a woman's voice drifted over, clamoring from afar, "Who dares say my treasures are poorly forged?!" Daoist Yuji looked toward the sound and saw a pretty young woman rushing over like a gust of wind. She had the youthful countenance of a maiden, her face flushed with fury as she huffed in indignation. Several immortals hurried forward and said, "Heavenly Artisan Zhu, it's that weirdo cloaked in darkness! He even reforged our heaven-mending divine artifact and made it smaller! It used to be enormous, but after he worked on it, it shrank down to almost nothing!" Daoist Yuji smiled proudly and began, "I am Yuji—" "Your granny is Consort Yu? Then I'm the Hegemon-King!" Zhu Chanchan flew into a rage. Summoning Feilai Peak, she smashed it straight at Daoist Yuji's head, fuming, "Forge treasures all you want, but you dare skim materials just like me?! Spit it back out!" *Clang!* Feilai Peak smashed against Daoist Yuji's head, shattering into pieces and scattering all over the ground. Zhu Chanchan jumped in fright. Knowing she had crossed paths with a formidable powerhouse, she instantly turned exceedingly ladylike, speaking in a soft, gentle voice: "So it is Senior Yuji. May I ask what guidance Senior has for me? This humble lady is all ears." Daoist Yuji gave a cold snort and said, "Go take a look at the heaven-mending divine artifact I reforged." Zhu Chanchan walked over to the artifact. As she examined it closely, her expression turned considerably solemn. She circled it, inspecting it inch by inch, completely engrossed. After a long while, Daoist Yuji cleared his throat: "Little girl, have you seen enough?" Starting awake, Zhu Chanchan quietly rose, walked before Daoist Yuji, and threw herself flat on the ground with a loud *thud*, prostrating in utmost reverence. Daoist Yuji said indifferently, "Rise. I accept you as my disciple." Zhu Chanchan got up and stood obediently by his side, smiling sweetly. "Thank you for your favor, Master." Daoist Yuji said, "I am Daoist Yuji. Formerly, I was the Chief Heavenly Craftsman of the New Dynasty's Immortal Court, famous for forging a few treasures for people. It was only because I saw that your heaven-mending divine artifacts showed great ingenuity that I was moved by an appreciation for your talent." Zhu Chanchan's eyes sparkled. "Is your disciple's forging technique very formidable?" "Not in the least," Daoist Yuji replied honestly. "Your forging was an utter mess. But the concepts were excellent—you are raw material worth shaping." Zhu Chanchan felt somewhat unconvinced. "Disciple forged artifacts to mend the heavens for the Ancestral Court. What famous treasures has Master forged?" Daoist Yuji replied, "Every Supreme treasure you can think of was forged by me. Come, let us reforge these heaven-mending divine artifacts together." Every Supreme treasure had come from his hands?! Zhu Chanchan couldn't help being horrified, thinking silently to herself: *This master I just randomly took... might just be an enormous figure.* *** Great Luo Heaven. Lou Mingyu escorted Xu Ying to the edge of the Great Luo Heaven. Xu Ying politely asked him not to see him off any further, smiling: "Senior Brother Lou is so eloquent yet has managed to live to this day. It seems the Holy Venerable's abilities must be supreme beyond compare." Lou Mingyu chuckled heartily. "The feeling is mutual. I've heard that Junior Brother Xu comes from a scholarly lineage and speaks with such sweet charm, yet you're still alive today—surely because Mingzun has protected his leek exceptionally well." Xu Ying burst into laughter and said, "Senior Brother Lou studied under the Holy Venerable, so you must be extraordinary. I wonder how much of the Holy Venerable's abilities Senior Brother Lou has mastered?" Lou Mingyu waved his hands in a hurry. "Oh, not me. Junior Brother Xu is adept in the Great Dao of the Emerald Rock and thoroughly versed in Emerald Rock divine abilities. At just fifty thousand years of age, you are already the foremost among our generation. How would I dare injure you, Junior Brother?" Xu Ying said with a radiant smile, "The Holy Venerable's inheritance is surely terrifying. I originally wished to catch a glimpse of the Holy Venerable's prowess, but Senior Brother is undoubtedly a paragon among mortals as well. I fear this 'foremost person' falls far short of your esteemed self. What a pity Senior Brother is about to return to the Great Luo Heaven." Lou Mingyu stood unmoving, smiling faintly. "The Holy Venerable is not in the Great Luo Heaven, so I would have nothing to do back there anyway. We are fellow apprentice brothers; let us not harm our harmony." Xu Ying smiled. "True. If we test our skills with real strikes, tempers can easily flare. We are brothers, bound by ties stronger than gold; we mustn't lose the greater good for a petty squabble. Well then, I shall take my leave." Lou Mingyu offered warmly, "Shall I walk you a bit further?" Xu Ying said delighted, "Wonderful." Together, they descended from the Great Luo Heaven and arrived at the Yangtian of the Yanglong Emperor. The Yanglong Emperor had already been waiting in the Yangtian Heavenly Palace, hoping Lou Mingyu would come down and gather at his place. But the moment he caught sight of Xu Ying and Lou Mingyu, he saw the pair—who had just been laughing and conversing amiably a moment ago—simultaneously unleash lethal strikes upon each other! Neither Xu Ying nor Lou Mingyu knew who struck first; in short, both erupted without warning. Xu Ying wanted to see just how profound the Holy Venerable's Dao methods and divine abilities truly were, while Lou Mingyu wished to test whether his years of painstaking cultivation could hold up against an outlaw like Xu Ying, who had dared to slaughter Emperor Changsheng. Lou Mingyu was already cultivated to Heavenly Monarch. The instant they clashed, Xu Ying felt an overwhelmingly vast magic power crushing down upon him—its sheer density far exceeded his own! What was even more terrifying was the ancient Flat Peach tree growing behind him, bearing thousands upon thousands of peach blossoms. Clustered in dazzling profusion, red and pink, they bloomed with brilliant splendor. An ordinary Heavenly Monarch had only a single Dao flower, where one Dao flower yielded one Dao fruit. Yet the Holy Venerable's heritage was simply too formidable, and Lou Mingyu's cultivation had evidently reached an extraordinarily profound realm far beyond ordinary Heavenly Monarchs, enabling him to forge thousands of Dao flowers! Each Dao flower represented an inheritance of a Great Dao; having so many Dao flowers meant Lou Mingyu had mastered several thousand Great Dao inheritances! Feeling the other's magic power bearing down and nearly crushing his own, Xu Ying shifted into his zang form without a second thought. In an instant, his body grew several times larger, countless branching patterns fluttering across his form. His bodhimanda turned pitch-black and boundless, towering ancient gods emerging from the gloom! Xu Ying struck with the Earth Immortal Seal, his full might erupting! Both their bodies jolted violently. Behind Lou Mingyu, eight Dao scenery anomalies flashed into view before vanishing. Behind Xu Ying, the dark-shrouded Taiyi Cave Abyss was jolted into sight, revealing all Ten Great Dao Sceneries within the abyss. "Much obliged," Xu Ying said, expression unyielding. Lou Mingyu said solemnly, "Without harming our harmony." "After you!" "After you!" The two parted ways. Xu Ying descended toward the Nine Heavens, while Lou Mingyu watched him leave before turning back and flying toward the Great Luo Heaven. Arriving outside a Great Luo Heaven, Lou Mingyu suddenly stumbled with a muffled grunt, nearly collapsing. He vomited a mouthful of blood, his face ghastly pale. Panting heavily for several breaths, he coughed up more blood and rasped, "What a terrifying divine ability... His cultivation is far below mine, yet he could injure me to such an extent..." Just as he spoke, Xu Ying's voice suddenly drifted from behind: "Senior Brother Lou, did I injure you?" Lou Mingyu turned around, horrified to discover that Xu Ying had sneaked back behind him at some point. Seeing Lou Mingyu injured, Xu Ying couldn't help bursting into hearty laughter. "You truly were injured by me! It seems Senior Brother is still a little lacking compared to me, haha—" Before his laughter could fully ring out, blood sprayed spurting out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose; he was hardly in any better shape than Lou Mingyu.